Washing machine



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WASHING MACHINE Original Filed May 8, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 66076 Mfi'sam G. M. GIBSON WASHING MACHINE Feb. 23, 1931.

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Patented Feb! '23, 1937 UNITED STATES WASHING MACHINE George M. Gibson,Davenport, Iowa, assignor to Butl Application May a, 1931, Serial No.535,852 Renewed August 1'1, 1936 4 Claims. '(01. 259-101) In the art ofdomestic washing machines the common practice at the present time is tocause agitation of the water and clothes by means of an agitator towhich an alternating rotary motion is applied, about three-fourthsrevolution in one direction and the same amount in the oppositedirection. In the art of commercial laundry machines of the typeoperating on a horizontal axis it is the custom at the present time togive these containers a rotary movement of about two revolutions in onedirection, and then exactly the same amount of revolutions in theopposite direction, and this has been found essential to preventtangling of the clothes.

The disadvantage of the alternating rotary agitators in washing machineshas long been recognized. First there must be employed an expensivereversing mechanism, and second, as wear takes place, this reversemechanism is noisy and tends to impart vibratory shaking movement to theentire washing machine.

The object o! my invention is to provide a washing machine having anagitator to which a continuous rotary motion is imparted, thuseliminating all expense for the reversing gear mechanism,

' and at the same time providing a noiseless and non-agitating orshaking device.

More specifically the object of my invention is to provide a washingmachine of the type having so a continuously rotating in one directionagitator,

which will not produce twisting movements within the container whichwill cause the clothes being washed to become entangled.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combinationof the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated areattained. as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointedoutinmyclaims,andillustratedinthe accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 shows a vertical, central, sectional view of a washing machineembodying my invention, and taken on the line |-l of Figure 2.

Figure 2 shows a top or plan view of same.

F'lgureBshowsanenlarged topviewofmyimproved agitator.

Figure 4 shows a vertical sectional view on the line H of Figure 3,as'it would appear if the agitator were out along the line H and bentout 0 along a straight line.

F'lgure5 shows-a similar view on the line 5-5 of Figure 3.

Figure 6 shows an enlarged, vertical, central, sectional view of aportion of the container beiitween the agitator and theshaft couplingfor connecting the agitator, taken on the same line as that shown inFigure 1.

Figure '7 shows a vertical, central, sectional view taken on the line ofFigure 2, and illustrating a portion of the containeig'one of thebaiiies and the agitator, to

tions. a

Figure 8 shows an inner face view of one of the baflles.

Figure 9 shows a sectional view on the line 9--9 of Figure 8.

Figure 10 shows a sectional view on the line ||l--||l of Figure 6.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, I have used the referencenumeral It to indicate generally the bottom of the container, which ispreferably provided with a depression H 'to receive the agitator. It isalso preferably provided with slightly upraised ribs 2 for strengtheningpurposes.- These ribs are arranged relatively radially.

The side walls of the container are indicated by the numeral l3, andthere is preferably an outer wall ll spaced apart from the side walls ofthe container. There is also a downwardly extended circular flange l5supporting the container, and which in turn is fixed to the supportinglegs l6.

Said depressed portion I is arranged eccentrically in the bottom of thetub, as clearly illustrated in Figure 2, and at the center of thisdepressed portion is an upright power shaft having at its upper endoutwardly projecting lugs l8.

The agitator is provided with a central downwardly extending hub l9,which is formed with slots 20 to receive the lugs l8, so that a rotarymovement in one direction imparted to the shaft I! will impart acorresponding rotary movement in one direction to the agitator.

The agitator proper is preferably made of a single piece of sheet metaland is connected at its central portion to the hub l9. On one side ofthe agitator there are formed three radially extended upwardlyprojecting blades 2|, equally spaced apart, and the sides of theseblades are preferably tapered slightly upwardly and toward each other,as shown in Figure 4.

0n the opposite side of the upper surface of the agitator there is asmooth surface 22, and the heighth of this part 22 is substantially thesame as the heighth of the tops of the blades 2|. The upper portions ofboth the blades 2| and the smooth"surface.22 incline slightly from acentral portion outwardly and downwardly as shown in Figure 1.

illustrate their relative posiwall is a series of haflle plates.

.The agitator moves in the direction of the arrow 23 shown in Figure 2,and the advance portion of the top surface of the smooth portion 22 ofthe agitator inclines slightly upwardly, as shown in Figure at 24.

Fixed to the inner surface of the container The first one, indicated bythe numeral 25, is located adjacent to the point where the agitator inits travel commences to move away from that side of the containernearest to the agitator, as shown in Flgure 2, and it extends radiallyinto the container and upwardly to apoint somewhat spaced below thewater level of the container, as indicated in Figure 1. The secondbaflle plate 26 is similar to the first and is arranged radially on theinterior of the container at the side opposite from the side which mostnearly approaches the agitator.

The third baille plate 21 is also radially arranged within thecontainer, and is adjacent to the point where'the agitator in its travelapproaches the part of the container nearest the agitator.

The particular construction of the baiiles is clearly indicated inFigure 9, and it will be seen that it is comprised of a single piece ofsheet metal with rounded rib 28 at its outer and upper surface.

The washing machine herein illustrated and described has been subjectedto exhaustive tests, and it has been found that its operation is asfollows:

When the agitator is being rotated continuously in one direction at theproper speed, the three blades 2| cause a current of water to be movedradially in an outward direction from the center 5f the agitator. Inaddition to this there is a minor upward movement imparted to the waterdue to the inclined sides of the blades 2|, and in addition to thisthere is a slight tendency to impart to the water engaged by the blades2| a rotary movement in the direction of travel of the agitator. Thesaid movements, however, imparted to the water in the tub is only amomentary or pulsating impulse, because immediately following the blades2| is a smooth surface 22, and this smooth surface does not impart anysuch movement to the water.

These pulsating currents of water caused by the blades 2| are ofsufllcient force to set up a current, which will travel to the outerwalls of the tub, and then upwardly and then backwardly toward thecenter of the tub and downwardly, and this downward movement would tendto cause the clothesin the tub to impinge upon the agitator. This is notdesirable, and this tendency has been found to be entirely overcome bymeans of the slightly inclined surface 24 of the smooth surface 22, asthis causes a rather thin film of water to be given an upward movement,so that clothes moving downwardly toward the agitator, that wouldordinarily impinge upon the agitator, are carried by this slightlyupwardly inclined current in a direction upwardly away from theagitator, so the clothes do not actually impinge on the agitator at anypoint.

In practice it has been found that material such as cheese cloth withoutbinding on the edges may be placed in the tub and operated for hourswithout forming any appreviable amount of lint, whereas a similar testwith the general class of alternating reciprocating agitators now in usewould almost wholly disintegrate the same quantity of material such ascheese cloth.

If, however, the agitator were located centrally within the tub andthere were no baille plates projecting outwardly from the sides of thetub, there would be a spiral movement of the water within, the tub,which would objectionably entangle the clothes.

I have found, however, that by locating the agitator eccentrically ofthe tub, as shown in Figure 1, and by providing the baffle 'plates 25,

26 and 21, this clothes twisting and entangling tendency issubstantially overcome as follows: Assuming that a pulsating outwardcurrent of water is thrown from the agitator in the direction toward thebaflle 25, then this current will strike upon the adjacent side of thetub and the adjacent side of the baille 25, and will then pass upwardlyand be thrown backwardly in the direction of the arrow 25a shown inFigure 2.

In view of the fact that there is quite a short distance between theagitator and the baiile 25,

this backward current in the direction of the arrow 25a will berelatively strong and obviously is in a direction directly opposedto thespiral movement normally set up by the blades 2|.

When the blades 2| cause a pulsating outward movement of the water inthe tub in a direction between the baffles 25 and 26, then there is thesame tendency to form a current upwardly and in the direction of thearrow 26a, and then downwardly into the tub. This current, however, isrelatively weak on account of the great distance between the agitatorand the adjacent side of the tub, and this downwardly moving current,

if it did carry the clothes down toward the bottom of the tub, would notbring them into the exact path of travel of the agitator blades.

Then in regard to currents set up by the blades 2| that strike thebaflle 21, such currents are relatively stronger than the ones whichstrike the baiile 26, and they will be thrown upwardly and then in thedirection of the arrow 21a in Figure 2, out of the path of travel of theagitator, and in a direction opposing the circular path of travel of thewater normally set up by the blades 2|.

In practice it has been found true that in some instances-clothes willpass from the space between the blades 21 and 25 into the space betweenthe blades 25 and 2G, in a direction in which the agitator moves, but italso frequently happens that clothes which are moved in a directiontoward the baflle 21 will be thrown by said baille in the direction ofthe arrow 21a, and back into the space between the bailles 26 and 25.

The net result of the entire combination of the eccentrically mountedagitator, the blades on one side and the smooth surface on the other forcausing pulsating movements, and on account of the eccentrically mountedagitator and the relative positions of the baflles, is that in actualuse there are no well defined constant currents moving in any specificdirection, but due to the pulsating movements imparted by the blades andsmooth surface of the agitator, there is normally imparted to eachgarment or portions of the garments, first a contracting and then anexpanding movement, which will tend to force the currents of waterthrough the garments in a highly eilicient manner for cleansingpurposes.

Furthermore, in view of the fact that the agitator may be connecteddirectly to a motor or other source of power without any reversingmechanism, it is obvious that the washing machine can be constructedvery cheaply, and it is also obvious that on account of the lack ofreversing movement applied to the agitator, all of the shocks, jars andvibrations attendant upon the usual washing machine reversing mechanismis absent in this machine, and it is quiet, noiseless and smoothrunning.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a washing machine, the combination of a tub, a rotatable shaftprojected upwardly through the bottom of the tub, an.- agitator fixed tothe shaft and being substantially circular in plan view, one sector ofits top surface being substantially flat and smooth and being positionedabove the surface of the tub bottom, the remaining sector of the topsurface of the agitator being depressed and a series of radial bladespositioned on the upper surface of said depressed sector of theagitator, the tops of said blades being in substantially the samehorizontal plane as the top surface of said first mentioned sector.

2. In a washing machine, a tub, a. rotatable shaft projecting upwardlythrough the bottom of said tub, an agitator fixed to the shaft and beingsubstantially circular in plan view, said agitator having a radiallyextending sectorshaped portion, the upper surface of which is flat andsmooth and terminates in peripheral downturnedparts lying close to thetub bottom, and

a depressed portion provided with a plurality of radial blades, the topsurfaces of which are substantially coplanar with that of the sectorshaped portion.

3.,A washing machine comprising a tub, an

agitator substantially circular in plan view, the

upper surface of which is substantially smooth and the upper surface ofthe agitator being formed with one or more depressions extending fromthe circumference of the agitator toward the center thereof, means forsupporting the agitator and for continuously rotating it in onedirection, said means being so positioned relative to the tub bottomthat one point at the circumference of the agitator is close to the sidewall of the tub and the diametrically opposite point at thecircumference of the agitator is widely spaced apart from the adjacentside wall of the tub.

4. A washing machine comprising a tub, an agitator substantiallycircular in plan view, the upper surface of which is substantiallysmooth and the upper surface of the agitator being formed with one ormore depressions extending from the circumference of the agitator towardthe center thereof, means for supporting the agitator and forcontinuously rotating it in one direction, said means being sopositioned relative to the tub bottom that one point at thecircumference of the agitator is close to the side wall of the tub andthe diametrically opposite point at the circumference of the agitator iswidely spaced apart from the adjacent side wall of the tub, the uppersurface of the agitator being positioned a substantial distance abovethe tub bottom and the bottoms of said depressions being inapproximately the same horizontal plane as the tub bottom adjacent thatportion thereof not covered by the agitator.

GEORGE M. GIBSON.

